


already got a home

by prettydizzeed



Category: The Get Down (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 12:44:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15663480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettydizzeed/pseuds/prettydizzeed
Summary: Dizzee remembers, of course, his dad saying that he came out the womb like Hannibal sacking Rome, and he remembers his mom saying a thousand times throughout his childhood that she hoped his kids would be as difficult as he was so he’d know what it was like, but he never actually expected to empathize with his parents.





	already got a home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [biprettydizzee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/biprettydizzee/gifts).



> this is literally the fluffiest thing i’ve ever written omg. written for @biprettydizzee as part of the Get Down Fanwork Exchange hosted by @brightclam
> 
> title is from “It’s My House” by MIKA

When Dizzee thinks about it, it’s kind of strange that no one expected him to be a parent. Sure, he was a rebellious, weird, free-spirited teenager, and he’s still a rebellious, weird, free-spirited adult, but being an artist and being a dad aren’t mutually exclusive, and he wouldn’t change anything about his life if given the chance. His kids are the most important thing in the world to him.

They are also, he is reminded daily, really similar to him.

Dizzee remembers, of course, his dad saying that he came out the womb like Hannibal sacking Rome, and he remembers his mom saying a thousand times throughout his childhood that she hoped his kids would be as difficult as he was so he’d know what it was like, but he never actually expected to empathize with his parents. He doesn’t take away his teenagers’ markers, or even their spray paint, but he does understand the fear, now. He watches the news and knows that when it comes down to it, he can’t stop them, but he still tells his kids at breakfast not to paint anything that isn’t theirs. He encourages them to use the studio whenever they want, like he’s been doing since the day they were adopted, and they roll their eyes, and god, he loves them so much it hurts.

*

It’s Thor who does the driving in situations like this, because he’s somehow miraculously able to stay calm enough to focus on the road. “You stress enough for both of us, babe,” he says, grinning, glancing at Dizzee and then at the rearview mirror, but Dizzee can tell from the set of his shoulders that he’s worried, too.

They pull up to the police station. Thor’s parking is perfect. Dizzee takes a deep breath.

(He’s thinking about all those months when he was 17, drawing by flashlight, staring out the window and wondering which direction Thor’s cell faced, if they were somehow, across all the distance and without knowing it, looking towards each other. He’s thinking about how much of a difference it makes for them to be at least somewhat—comparatively, barely—financially secure, how he at least has the means to ensure that his child won’t spend the night in jail, much less months.)

They pay the bail. They get their kid back. Dizzee still feels like he can’t quite breathe yet.

Thor clears his throat on the drive home and meets Xander’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Don’t tell your grandma about this.”

Dizzee snorts in spite of himself. “She’d love that. Taste of my own medicine, et cetera.” He turns around to look at his kid—fifteen, god, he’s never felt as young in his life as fifteen now seems to him—and smiles slightly.

“Did I ever tell you about the time your dad got arrested?”

Thor groans, Dizzee laughs, and Xander starts to look a little less shell-shocked.

When they get home, Dizzee goes into their bedroom and digs out a folder from the bottom drawer of Thor’s bedside table. He flips through the first few pages, smiling slightly; it’s a strange form of nostalgia, because he doesn’t want to go back to those days when everything was burning, but he’s glad they happened all the same.

He slides the folder across the dinner table to Xander. “I drew those for your dad when he was in jail. You can read them, if you want, just be careful with them.”

Xander’s eyes widen. “Shit, Dad.” They turn the pages carefully, their fingers on the very edge of the paper. “These are really good.”

Thor grins. “Well, it’s not like he’s an artist or anything.”

Xander rolls their eyes, but they look tense. They’ve seemed to be holding their breath all evening. “So… Am I in trouble, or…?”

Thor and Dizzee have a silent conversation across the table, and finally, Thor shrugs, and Dizzee sighs. “Sometimes you gotta do what your soul needs, you know? Just try to do it where the cops can’t see next time.”

Thor nods and adds, “Look, we’d both prefer you not to do the crazy shit we did when we were kids, right, but we still did all that crazy shit, we know how it is. Just… we don’t want you to get hurt, and you have to consider a risk neither of us ever did, because you’re trans, so I don’t… There are some footsteps of mine I don’t want you to follow in.”

“It’s so hard, avoiding being a hypocrite,” Dizzee says, smiling, and Thor laughs.

“No kidding.”

Xander pushes their fork around for a minute. “Are you going to tell Lily?”

“No,” Dizzee says.

Xander looks relieved for half a second before Thor says, “You are.”

“She’s your sister,” Dizzee says before they can protest. “She deserves to know.”

“She’s gonna be more pissed than you guys were,” Xander grumbles, and Dizzee laughs.

“Yeah, sisters are like that sometimes.”

“Speaking of which,” Thor says as Xander walks off to find Lily, dragging their Converse against the hardwood, “how is Yolanda?”

“She’s good,” Dizzee says, and then rolls his eyes. “Mom and Dad are going a lot easier on her and Mylene than they did on us. Maybe we wore them down for her.”

“Or maybe it’s because they’re engaged and we’ve been living in sin for ten years.”

“Still can’t believe it took you so long to ask me to move in,” Dizzee teases, and even after all these years of saying that, Thor still laughs, and doesn’t even roll his eyes.

*

Thor is wearing an honest to god apron when Dizzee opens the door. “You look like the personification of a stereotypical Southern housewife,” he says, setting his bag down and kissing Thor on the cheek.

“Is it the hair or the mom jeans?” Thor asks, grinning, and swats Dizzee away when he tries to lick the spoon.

“Definitely not the hair. You know my parents lose a few years off their lives every time we mention that you still insist on cutting it yourself.”

Thor makes a face at him and mutters something that sounds like “you know you love it” before leaning back against the counter and asking, “So, how was your day?”

Dizzee shrugs. “Decent. Julia wants to organize a field trip to a museum and I told her that wouldn’t do shit to grab hold of the kids’ souls, and I told Ray that if he uses the phrase ‘disadvantaged youth’ one more time, I’ll punch him in the face, and didn’t get fired for it, so. Yours?”

Thor blows at a strand of hair that’s fallen out of his bun and into his eyes. “The kids were kind of a pain in my ass today, to be honest.”

Dizzee hums. “Ours or yours?”

“Mine. Thank god ours aren’t in middle school anymore. It seems like every class this semester has that one kid who puts all of their energy into convincing the rest of the class that doing art is a waste of time, or unmanly, or what the fuck ever.”

“They love the constraints society has raised them within,” Dizzee agrees, and Thor sighs.

“I’m trying to single-handedly reshape a bunch of eleven to fourteen year olds’ attitudes about toxic masculinity while also managing to teach them something about art. It’s a thankless job in so many ways.”

Dizzee kisses his shoulder, just to the left of where the apron is tied around his neck. “Thank you.” 

He can feel Thor smile.

*

“Don’t forget that Ana’s coming over tonight,” Thor calls on his way out the door, and Dizzee rushes out after him in his constellation boxers. Thor does not look remotely surprised when he turns around.

“Lily’s bringing her new datemate over for dinner tonight,” Dizzee says, and Thor frowns.

“Shit, was that on the calendar?”

“No, she asked last night, and I meant to discuss it with you first, but you were home late and we’ve been wanting to meet the kid for a couple of weeks, so…” Dizzee shrugs apologetically.

“Hey, it’s not my night to cook,” Thor says, grinning easily. “I’ll let Ana know, but she’ll be fine with it.”

Dizzee nods, and takes the opportunity to kiss him goodbye again.

 

Isabel’s eyes widen when Dizzee opens the door, and he knows it’s not just nerves. He wonders how many adults they’ve met like him—bisexual, living with and in love with and raising kids with a man, wearing a band t-shirt and bright green pants that definitely clash with the purple in his braids. His ears are pierced in several different places, and his wrists are smudged with paint. He can imagine how he would’ve felt if he’d met someone like him when he was their age; it’s close enough to how he felt the first night he went to the club with Thor, breathing in for the first time, soaking in all the chaos swirling above his people's broken cages. Knowing that people like him can come home to kids and dirty dishes is a different flavor of the same freedom, all the magnificence without the solitude.

Dizzee introduces himself and invites them in, and when Thor kisses Ana and then gets up from the table and introduces himself as Lily’s other dad, Dizzee can tell how hard Isabel is trying to keep their jaw from dropping.

“This is my girlfriend Ana,” Thor says. “Ana, this is Lily’s datemate Isabel.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ana says, smiling.

“We’re just having pizza,” Dizzee says, and flashes a smirk at Thor. “Seeing as it was my turn to cook, and I’m not great at converting recipes.”

“Okay,” Isabel says quietly, but they light up when Lily walks into the room, and Dizzee can’t help but smile, too.

Thor nudges him with his shoulder. “What’s got you so happy?” he teases, and Dizzee looks away from where Lily and Isabel are beaming awkwardly at each other and where Xander is hugging Ana hello, looks at the man he never wants to marry and never wants to leave, and rests his head on Thor’s shoulder.

“Do you ever wish you could show your past self a second of this? Like, let him know that it’s gonna turn out okay?”

Thor is silent for a minute. “No,” he says finally, and Dizzee can hear the peaceful smile in his voice. “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

**Author's Note:**

> i’m on tumblr @basilhallward if you want to yell about how the get down deserved better


End file.
